Satellite detection of phytoplankton export from the mid-Atlantic bight during the 1979 spring bloom

Abstract

Analysis of CZCS imagery confirms shipboard and in situ moored fluorometer observations of resuspension of near-bottom chlorophyll within surface waters (1–10 m) by northwesterly wind events in the mid-Atlantic Bight. As much as 8–16 μg Chl l −1 are found during these wind events from March to May, with a seasonal increase of algal biomass until onset of stratification of the water column. Rapid sinking or downwelling apparently occurs after subsequent wind events, however, such that the predominant surface chlorophyll patterns is ≈0.5–1.5 μg l −1 over the continental shelf during most of the spring bloom. Perhaps half of the chlorophyll increase observed by satellite during a wind resuspension event represents in situ production during that 4–5 day interval, with the remainder attributed to accumulation of algal biomass previously produced and temporarily stored within near-bottom water. Present calculations suggest that at least 10% of the primary production of the spring bloom may be exported as ungrazed phytoplankton carbon from mid-Atlantic shelf waters to those of the continental slope.